Disney Fantasia is not Dance Central.
I learned that the hard way during my hands-on (hands-off?) with the game at E3 earlier this month. Instead of bouncing around the E3 booth, like I would if I was playing the greatest dance/Kinect game of all time DC3, I stood in place and waved my arms.
And I think I felt a little disappointed.
Fantasia replaces big broad movements and arm/leg combinations with waves and forward punches. There was no moving side-to-side in my demo of The Police’s Message In A Bottle; my feet were planted on the ground and the entire arrangement was played out with my upper body.
In fact, it was a lot like conducting an orchestra rather than dancing, falling right in line mechanically with the source material of Disney’s magnificent 1940 opus… sans magic wand.
Arrows determined which direction I had to wave my hand or punched it forward — I emphasize “my hand” instead of “my arm”, as the motions seemed to track my palm rather than my body. I wasn’t forcing spells out of my hands, I was washing a window, in a way. Wax on, wax off. Movements could be played with either hand, too, making it super accessible but feel far less precise. They didn’t always register correctly, and many of my streaks were broken. This *may* have been due to the E3 environment, though I was against a big wall with great lighting and no one around me to interfere.
During certain points, a globe would appear and allow me to play with the pitch and rhythm of the song, though I was able to flail my hands wildly without any cohesive idea and still get something interesting. Again, the lack of precision here made it feel like Wii Music without the Wii Remote. I could do anything to mix the tune, and it sounded alright.
At other times I could select which of three audio “themes” the song could switch to. Think going from the current song to something like an acoustic version or more dance-y. I can imagine the idea allowing each playthrough to seem unique.
The game has some stunning visuals, but I never felt like I was making anything “explode with magic” like Mickey did in the film. There didn’t seem like there was enough emphasis on the “spell-casting” that should thematically be in the game. The directional arrows were too graphically rigid, and could be easily missed on a big screen. Because of their size and spacing, my eyes were required to bounce around the screen a lot. Bigger screens could mean that it may be more difficult to find them.
Granted, there are plenty of other ideas built into Fantasia. Themed overworld hubs allow for progression and unlocking of songs through “missions” — guiding robots, solving puzzles, etc. Songs can be created and manipulated, and then played during the missions and throughout. It certainly feels like there is a lot of content that could span hours of play.
But when the core of the game is “dancing” to the music, and that still feels too rigid, then no matter of extra content can salvage it. I want to move my entire body, not just an imaginary wand. I want to create magic, not just music. Fantasia doesn’t convince me yet that it’s ready to do that.
Disney Fantasia launches this Fall for Xbox One and Xbox 360.
No Comments